Page 73 of The Rusalka and Mr. Right

“You’ve given yourself to a human to thwart me.”

“No one uses words likethwartanymore,” I spit back, blood dotting my lips. While he paces in front of me, I take in the surroundings. Small dark room. Water around us. Under us. I can tell by the way it laps at the surface under me and behind my head.

Boat. A nice, modern boat by the feel of the fiberglass walls against my back—but I’m trapped in an interior room. No windows.

“You pretend to live in the mortal world. I do not. I know ancient words that will cause you much pain—but not until you’ve borne me a new crop of handmaids to harvest souls.”

“I believe the term you want—in this modern world—is ‘shit out of luck,’” I say with a defiant smile that makes my lips split.

“You are the only rusalka left. As such, you are not my handmaid, you are myqueen. The rules will be different. You will be as the first bride I ever bred.”

My skin crawls, and my legs involuntarily press together. “But... You said I was useless.”

“Like this. Given to a worthless one, a soul vessel.”

“A human.”A human that I love.

Wait, what does that mean? Why is he mentioning my human, my Kev?My hands flex, and I realize that I’m not bound. That’s a good and bad thing. It means I can move but that Bony thinks I’m no threat. Well, maybe I’d better let himthink that for a little longer—especially since I can’t really prove otherwise right now.

I scoot away from him and realize that any good the dip in the water did me has been stripped away by his relentless feeding. I’ll end up like Darya and the others if he’s not careful. While he couldn’t feed from me before, that’s no longer the case, probably since he’s here, in this realm, able to physically touch me and not simply relying on some parasitic soul-bond.

“Yes, a human. Another human to kill, how delicious.”

“Another?” My mind is a spiral of fear. Which human did he hurt? Oh, God! Carrie Onyx? Someone sitting near the river? Janet??

“You don’t think the owner of this boat just handed it to me, do you?” He smacks his jaws together. “I had not tasted one directly in over four hundred years. Such...memories. And once I kill the one who owns your soul, then I can take you, not as a handmaid, but as a queen.”

Panic makes me talk. “You can’t take me from him. Even if he dies, our souls are bound for eternity. Heaven, Hell, or in between, we are going to be together. You’re not the only one with powers—and you are friendless. I am not.” I lift my chin—and smile.

The angry red glare turns molten, and black claws rake across my skin, dragging down, raising red rivulets that make me hiss. But not scream. I will not scream for this monster.

Kev is right. I’m not a monster. Koshchei is.

Again, he goes for my chest—and his pointy fingers tap harmlessly.

Soul. He wants mine, wants to stab it right out, but it won’t come. It’s not his to take. And I’m not so easy to kill as a mortal.

“Well. It’s worth a try. I’m fairly certain that if he’s dead and you’re still living, your body will at least be usable again.” Koshchei leans down closer, hands gripping my knees as he pullsstrength from me. The strips of skin on his face knit themselves together in front of my eyes—eyes now too weak to keep open.

“He even tried to breed you, didn’t he? Doesn’t he know that as long as I own you, you’ll be barren to all others?”

Words slur. Tears drip, or at least try. “Loves me anyway. He loves me.”

“He loves fucking you. Using your holes. It’s the same way a fish loves the worm, right before he feels the hook slice through his flesh.”

“You’re. Wrong. And if you keep... taking my energy... you’ll die when I do. I’m okay with that.” Exhaustion wins. I sink into unconsciousness as I hear Koshchei cursing and stomping from the room, the sound of locks bolting into place.

There’s no easy escape.

And I hope Kev doesn’t try to rescue me, even though I want him so bad it hurts worse than any other pain I’m feeling—which probably would break records if pain was a thing that could truly be measured.

His face is the last thing I see as my mind fades.Stay safe, sweetheart. I’ll see you soon... One way or another.

“THERE’S A BAD DISTURBANCE. Big enough and evil enough that wards didn’t stop it.”

Oh, that’s real comforting. I clear my throat and feel out of place, the lone “normal” person in a room full of big, ancient books and jars on the shelves that are labeled things like “Saber Grass” and “Pickled Black Widow Thoraxes.”

“I have Marina’s brush.”

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